Though Tyler Chatwood is entering his last year under contract, there hasn’t been any sign that the Rockies are considering trading the righty, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes as part of a reader mailbag. Chatwood missed all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery and posted solid numbers in his comeback year, managing a 3.87 ERA, 6.66 K/9 and a 57.2% grounder rate over 158 innings. It’s unclear whether the Rockies can extend Chatwood given his issues pitching at Coors Field, and he’d make a very interesting trade chip in this offseason’s thin free agent pitching market. That said, given how Colorado has traditionally struggled to find any viable rotation help, the team might prefer to hang onto Chatwood for as long as possible. Saunders’ entire mailbag piece is well worth a read, as he also addresses such topics as the Rockies’ first base search and new manager Bud Black.

Speaking of Dozier, Berardino also tweets that there isn’t much cooking between the Dodgers and Twins in trade discussions. “I wouldn’t hold your breath,” one team official tells Berardino about the chances of a deal.

The Giants haven’t had serious talks with relievers Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo or Santiago Casilla, CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic reports. Casilla is the least likely to return, as he and the team ended the season on bad terms. Romo could potentially be an option for San Francisco in January or February if he fails to catch on with another club beforehand.

As for Lopez, Pavlovic writes that the veteran southpaw is “said to have a very short list of teams that could keep him out of retirement.” Lopez has previously hinted at continuing his career, though it appears it could be only under particular circumstances, such as staying with the Giants. Pavlovic isn’t sure that will happen, as the Giants already have Will Smith, Josh Osich and Steven Okert on hand as left-handed bullpen options.

Former Giants closer Santiago Casilla watched last night as five separate San Francisco relievers tried and failed to stop the Cubs in the 9th. Instead, a three-run lead turned into a one-run deficit. As Carl Steward of the Mercury News reports, the 36-year-old righty was moved to tears by the loss — and the fact that he wasn’t able to help in the attempt to prevent it.

Though he lost his closer’s role after logging 31 saves this season, Casilla was stung by the fact he wasn’t considered at any point in the decisive fourth game of the NLDS, Steward says. As Casilla heads to the open market this winter, it seems likelier than ever that his seven-year run with the Giants will come to an end. “I’m a free agent, so I don’t know,” Casilla said of his future. “I’m just going to wait and see what happens.”

Casilla did make it onto the NLDS roster after a tough end to the year, but made just one appearance in the series. In his 7 2/3 frames from the start of September, he allowed five earned runs with just five strikeouts against three walks. Though he only permitted six hits, two were homers. Of course, he had been solid — albeit hardly dominant — for much of the season, ending with a 3.57 ERA with 10.1 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 over 58 total innings.

Despite his diminished role, Casilla said that he felt confident he could have gotten the job done when the Giants most needed a shut-down inning. “I’m a pitcher. I’m part of the bullpen,” he said. “I know I have had some bad moments in September and during the season, but I have good numbers in the playoffs and I know I can pitch in that situation. I know I can pitch in the big leagues.”

Indeed, Casilla does possess a rather distinguished postseason track record. In 19 2/3 frames, all with the Giants, he allowed just two earned runs on 15 hits while striking out twenty and permitting only five free passes.

It seems, though, that Casilla had already been buried on the depth chart. A parade of his pen mates — Derek Law, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, Will Smith, and Hunter Strickland — was called upon while Casilla sat in the dugout. Regardless of one’s views on the decisionmaking process of oft-lauded skipper Bruce Bochy — certainly, the post-loss questioning is inevitable given the result — the Giants seem to be headed in a different direction with the back of their pen.

Whether or not San Francisco will pursue Casilla in the offseason, and whether he’d be amenable to a return at this point, remain to be seen. But he figures to receive a good bit of interest on the market. Casilla’s late-inning track record certainly doesn’t hurt his case, even if he stumbled at times this year, but teams will mostly focus on the fact that he’s thrown at least fifty innings annually since joining the Giants in 2010, with a cumulative 2.42 ERA. In fact, 2016 was the first time he provided the organization with an earned run average of greater than three per nine.

Facial hair policy may not typically be at the top of the list of considerations for free agents, but Marlins righty Andrew Cashner says it’s a matter of concern to him, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. The recently-acquired starter says that he “still hate[s]” Miami’s policy forbidding beards and intends to weigh that when he reaches the open market after the season. “That is a big deal to me in free agency,” he said. The 29-year-old seems unlikely to be more than a rental for the Fish anyway — his 4.78 ERA with the team is a near match for the 4.76 mark he put up before he was dealt — but if he sticks to his guns, it would seem that he also will be unlikely to sign with the beardless Yankees this winter.

Here are some more notes from the National League:

Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock left tonight’s action with what the team announced as a groin strain. The severity of the injury is not known at present, but it represents another turn of bad luck for a player who missed the vast majority of the year with a broken bone in his elbow. The 28-year-old hasn’t quite been himself at the plate since returning, though returning to health is the primary consideration and he has only had a chance to accumulate 45 plate appearances thus far in a star-crossed season.

The Giants have elected to remove Santiago Casilla from the closer’s role, skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco intends to play the matchups for the time being, but Bochy suggested both that Casilla could still see save opportunities and that rookie Derek Law may get some chances once he’s back from the DL. Law, 25, has posted a 1.94 ERA over his first 51 MLB frames, with 8.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9, and could set himself up as the team’s closer of the future. As for the 36-year-old Casilla, the move mostly represents an acknowledgment that he’s more a sturdy reliever than a lights-out presence at the back of the pen. He still carries a solid 3.52 ERA with 10.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in his walk season.

By releasing Hector Olivera, the Padres forewent any chance of avoiding salary obligations that his jail time would otherwise have freed them from paying, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitterlinks). It’s important to note, though, that he is only slated to spend ten days in prison after his domestic violence conviction, and the team would only have been able to recoup salary if the time ended up being served during the season.

Nationals lefty Sammy Solis has encountered a “roadblock” in his efforts to work through a shoulder injury, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Washington still hopes that the 28-year-old will make it back by the end of the year, which could represent a nice boost as the club enters a highly likely postseason berth. Solis has had quite a nice season when healthy, posting a 2.35 ERA in 38 1/3 frames while compiling 10.3 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9.

Santiago Casilla closed out the Giants win today for his 37th save. More importantly, he triggered his $6.5MM vesting option for 2016. As we learned earlier this season, Casilla needed to finish 55 games for the option to vest. He was already guaranteed a $1MM buyout if it did not vest, so he secured an additional $5.5MM today.

Casilla, 35, had a strong season as the Giants closer with a 2.83 ERA, 9.58 K/9, and 3.61 BB/9. The strikeout rate was the best of his career. Over 496 career innings, Casilla has a 3.16 ERA, 7.94 K/9, 3.92 BB/9, and 95 saves.

Following the game, manager Bruce Bochy indicated that Casilla’s option would have been picked up even if it hadn’t vested, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Indeed, the decision was a no-brainer so long as Casilla finished the season healthy. The additional $5.5MM payment is well below market value for an established closer.

The Padres have been fined by Major League Baseball for an infraction of the international signing rules, reports Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. According to Miller, the Padres flew prospects from Venezuela to Aruba for private workouts shortly before the onset of this year’s international signing period. That maneuver violated a league rule which states that teams are not allowed to host workouts for prospects that are not yet old enough to sign anywhere other than their native countries. The amount of the fine is not clear, per Miller, and the violation hasn’t done anything to jeopardize the job status of GM A.J. Preller, who is still in the first season of a five-year contract.

Elsewhere in the division…

It was reported over the weekend that the Giantshope to bring back Marlon Byrd in 2016, and as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News now writes, manager Bruce Bochy has also expressed a desire to retain Nori Aoki. A platoon of the two in left field could make some sense, Baggarly notes, though paying that platoon a combined $13.5MM (the sum of Byrd’s $8MM option and Aoki’s $5.5MM option) may be too much. Baggarly points out that the top priority this winter will be to rebuild the rotation, and an expensive outfield platoon could detract from that goal. Byrd’s option will vest with another 18 plate appearances.

Also within the piece, Baggarly points out that closer Santiago Casilla’s option will vest if he finishes two more games this season. That would lock in his 2016 salary at $6.5MM, but Baggarly writes that the Giants will probably pick up the option anyway, even if Casilla doesn’t reach the necessary milestone.

The Diamondbacks’ outfield situation is crowded, writes Yahoo’s Tim Brown, meaning the team might end up moving one of its corner options this winter. David Peralta, Ender Inciarte and Yasmany Tomas have all seen time in the corners this season, but despite Tomas’ shrinking role and disappointing second half, he’s likely to remain with the club. As Brown points out, Tomas reported to Spring Training out of shape this season, and the club will push him to arrive in much better physical condition next year. Manager Chip Hale told Brown to expect “a huge jump” in Tomas’ performance next season, adding, “No. 1, he’s going to come back in a lot better shape.”

With the regular season nearing its end, we have some clarity on several vesting clauses around the game. Let’s take a look at where things stand …

Chase Utley, Dodgers: There’s no chance that Utley’s $15MM option — the first of three in succession — will vest. (He’d need 110 plate appearances over the final two weeks of the season to reach 500.) Instead, Utley will become subject to a team option — the value of which floats between $5MM and $11MM based upon days spent on the DL. The precise details have yet to be reported, so it’s not yet clear how much it would cost Los Angeles to control the veteran. Neither is it known whether the team would have interest; Utley has a mediocre .200/.296/.347 slash over 108 plate appearances with the Dodgers.

Jonathan Papelbon, Nationals: This one was taken care of as part of the deal that sent Papelbon to D.C. from the Phillies. Papelbon helped facilitate the swap by agreeing to take $11MM to throw next year for the Nats. He was already likely to reach the requirements for his option to vest at $13MM, but that agreement greased the wheels on a move he desperately wanted and removed any doubt as to his payday.

David Ortiz, Red Sox: Big Papi has blown well past the 425 plate appearances he needed for his 2016 option to vest, though he’ll also need to pass an offseason physical. The question now is the value of the option. It has already reached $15MM, but would go higher if he makes his 600th trip to the dish. In that case, it will go to $16MM (or, if it’s more than that, the value of the qualifying offer). Ortiz has earned it, with another huge season and successful run at 500 career home runs.

Joaquin Benoit, Padres: Benoit needed to finish 55 games for to his $8MM option to vest. That can’t happen, so it’ll turn into a team option. It’s a fair sum for a reliever, but Benoit continues to put up strong results at 38 years of age.

Marlon Byrd, Giants: The 38-year-old sits at 502 plate appearances. He needs 48 more the rest of the way to reach 550 total, which, in combination with those accumulated last year, would be sufficient for his $8MM option to vest for 2016. With 13 games left, it’s still possible that he could reach the needed total, but that’ll depend heavily on playing time — and San Francisco may well not wish to be on the hook for that kind of cash.

Santiago Casilla, Giants: As MLBTR reported, Casilla needs 55 games finished for his $7.5MM option to vest for 2016. The situation is somewhat similar to Byrd’s. With 49 finished games in the bank so far, it’s still possible — but, perhaps, unlikely — for Casilla to reach the necessary tally.

Nori Aoki, Giants: Due to injuries, the outfielder is stalled well shy of the 550 plate appearances he needed to turn a $5.5MM club option into one of the mutual variety. That could still be an appealing price tag for a player who performed well when healthy.

Jonny Gomes, Royals: Gomes needs 325 plate appearances for a $3MM club option for 2016 to become guaranteed. He only has 246, and hasn’t been used much in Kansas City, so that’s not happening.

We already know that Cliff Lee won’t achieve the innings totals required for his 2016 option to vest, as the Phillies southpaw hasn’t pitched all season and is attempting to recover from a torn left flexor tendon without undergoing surgery. Brandon League also hasn’t pitched this season and has been released by the Dodgers, so he won’t reach the games-finished total required to allow his 2016 player option to vest.

Twins prospect Max Kepler has progressed greatly since signing out of Germany as a teenager, as Parker Hageman of TwinsDaily.com writes in an interesting look at the 22-year-old. “His [development] was limited out of Germany,” said VP of player personnel Mike Radcliff. “Played a lot more soccer games than he did baseball games before he was signed. It takes patience and we have a lot of that in our organization, thankfully.” Kepler, who joined the Minnesota organization for a $800K bonus, is one of an increasingly promising group of European prospects who have come to North American baseball in recent years. He has been outstanding in his first run at the Double-A level, slashing .334/.420/.558 with nine home runs and 16 stolen bases over 431 plate appearances.

If you’re interested in the topic of European baseball, be sure to keep an eye out for today’s MLBTR podcast, which discusses it extensively. In the meantime, here are a few more stray notes from around the league:

Whatever the Red Sox do with Hanley Ramirez the rest of the way in 2015, opines John Tomase of WEEI.com, finding him a new home this winter should be at the top of the to-do list of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Ramirez has had a deleterious effect throughout the organization, Tomase argues, suggesting that relying on the veteran at first carries too much risk. Yesterday, we polled MLBTR readers on the matter. The current results: a virtual dead heat between “move him to first” and “deal him away.”

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at the Giants’ upcoming offseason bullpen questions. It could be time for the club to say goodbye to southpaw Jeremy Affeldt, he writes. The 36-year-old has struggled this year, the last of a three-year, $18MM contract he inked to return to San Francisco. Closer Santiago Casilla, meanwhile, can be brought back with a $5.5MM option or cut loose through a $1MM buyout. While it’s an open question whether he should be given the ninth inning, says Schulman, Casilla still seems likely to be retained at that price.

When the Giants and right-hander Santiago Casillaagreed to a three-year, $15MM extension with a vesting/club option in the 2012-13 offseason, reports indicated that Casilla’s option would vest based on a certain number of innings pitched or appearances. However, details surrounding the specific parameters of the option remained unclear. MLBTR has learned the specifics of Casilla’s vesting option.

The 2016 option was structured such that it could vest at three different levels: $6.5MM, $7.5MM or $8.5MM. Of those three, the $6.5MM figure is the only reasonably possible scenario at this point, and it, in fact, seems fairly likely. Casilla’s option will vest at $6.5MM if he finishes 55 games in the 2015 season. It would have vested at $7.5MM had he finished 100 games from 2014-15, with 55 or more of those games finished coming this year. The $8.5MM figure would have vested had Casilla finished 150 games over his contract’s three-year term, with 55 or more coming in the 2015 season.

As things currently stand, Casilla has pitched well as the Giants’ primary closer in 2015. He’s finished 32 games on the year (accumulating 23 saves), meaning that he’ll need just 23 more games finished to lock in the fourth year of his contract and boost the total value of the deal from $15MM to $20.5MM. (He was already guaranteed $1MM of that figure via buyout, so the vesting option will increase his guarantee by $5.5MM instead of $6.5MM.)

The 34-year-old Casilla has worked to a 3.34 ERA in 32 1/3 innings, averaging 9.2 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 with a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. Casilla will turn 35 in 12 days, and his 93 mph average fastball is the slowest of his career, so there are reasons to worry about some level of decline. But, he’s consistently delivered very strong bottom-line results throughout his San Francisco tenure, and the $6.5MM salary he figures to eventually secure for the 2016 season is hardly prohibitive to a team with the Giants’ payroll capabilities.

Last night’s midseason update on vesting options from around the league, authored by MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk, has been updated to reflect the details of Casilla’s contract.

Several notable players could see their 2016 statuses change depending on whether or not they unlock vesting options in their current contracts. As we enter the All-Star break, let’s check in on the progress each of these players are making towards those getting those options to vest. All stats are current heading into today’s action…

Chase Utley: The veteran second baseman has a $15MM vesting option for 2016 that becomes guaranteed if he makes 500 plate appearances. (If he doesn’t, it becomes a team option worth between $5MM-$11MM depending on how much time Utley spends on the DL, with a $2MM buyout.) Utley, of course, is on the DL right now recovering from an ankle injury and will be out until late July or early August. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has openly stated that Cesar Hernandez has earned the everyday second base job, leaving Utley’s playing time in question for the remainder of the season. Utley is suffering through by far the worst season of his 13-year career with only a .179/.257/.275 slash line and four homers through his 249 plate appearances. If Utley isn’t back until early August, he’d be hard-pressed to reach 500 PA even in the increasingly unlikely event that he plays every day.

Jonathan Papelbon: This Phillie’s march towards his vesting option is going much more smoothly. His $13MM option for 2016 vests if he either finishes 55 games this year, or finishes 100 games combined between the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Papelbon finished 52 games last year and has 29 finishes this season, so collecting those last 19 finishes over roughly two and a half months shouldn’t be difficult for the closer if he stays healthy. There’s a chance Papelbon could ask for his option to be guaranteed to facilitate a trade, yet he sounds so eager to get out of Philadelphia and pitch for a contender that he may not bother and instead bet on himself to finish those 19 games.

David Ortiz: Big Papi has 340 plate appearances, making him a virtual lock to reach the 425 PA he’ll need (plus passing an offseason physical) for his 2016 option to vest. Ortiz will earn at least $11MM in 2016, plus more depending on how many PA past the 425-mark he ends up recording this season.

Joaquin Benoit: With only seven games finished, Benoit has no shot at the 55 games finished he’s need to turn the Padres’ $8MM club option into a guarantee for 2016.

Marlon Byrd: If Byrd has 600 PA this season, or at least 550 PA this season and 1100 PA total between 2014-15, the $8MM club option on his 2016 services will become guaranteed. A DL stint limited Byrd to 262 PA thus far, so it’ll be difficult for Byrd to reach the 550 PA mark unless he stays healthy and the Reds play him virtually every day.

Santiago Casilla: The Giants righty signed a three-year, $15MM deal in the 2012-13 offseason that contained a vesting option. MLBTR has learned that Casilla’s 2016 option will vest at $6.5MM with 55 games finished during the 2015 season. Casilla’s option could have vested at $7.5MM with 100 games finished between the 2014-15 seasons, including 55 in 2015. The option could also have vested at $8.5MM with 150 games finished from 2013-15, including 55 finished in 2015.

Nori Aoki: The outfielder was one of the league leaders in plate appearances when he fractured his right fibula, so he already has 291 of the 550 PA he needs to turn the Giants’ $5.5MM option for 2016 into a mutual option. If Aoki returns around July 24 (as Bruce Bochy estimates) and resumes his everyday spot atop San Francisco’s lineup, he stands a good chance of reaching the vesting point.

Jonny Gomes: If Gomes receives 325 PA, his $3MM option for 2016 will become guaranteed. He’s just over halfway there with 166 plate appearances, so this one may come right down to the wire.

We already know that Cliff Lee won’t achieve the innings totals required for his 2016 option to vest, as the Phillies southpaw hasn’t pitched all season and is attempting to recover from a torn left flexor tendon without undergoing surgery. Brandon League also hasn’t pitched this season and has been released by the Dodgers, so he won’t reach the games-finished total required to allow his 2016 player option to vest.

Several notable players could see their 2016 statuses change depending on whether or not they unlock vesting options in their current contracts. With the opening month of the 2015 season almost in the books, let’s check in on the progress each of these players are making towards those getting those options to vest…

Chase Utley: The veteran second baseman has a $15MM vesting option for 2016 that becomes guaranteed if he makes 500 plate appearances. (If he doesn’t, it becomes a team option worth between $5MM-$11MM depending on how much time Utley spends on the DL, with a $2MM buyout.) Utley has received 81 PA while playing in 21 of the Phillies’ first 22 games, so he is well on the way to having his option vest despite a very rough start — only a .398 OPS and two homers this season, thanks to an incredibly low .102 BABIP. There is little chance the Phils would let Utley walk for nothing this winter, especially when they could obtain something for him in a trade this summer if Utley agrees to waive his no-trade clause.

Jonathan Papelbon: The Phillies closer’s 2016 vesting option is one of the reasons why he hasn’t yet been traded, as other teams have been wary about acquiring a reliever with such a potentially large price tag. Papelbon’s $13MM vests if he finishes 55 games this season, or posts a combined 100 games finished between 2014-15. The stopper finished 52 games last year and has seven finishes thus far in 2015, putting him on pace for that guaranteed salary next year.

David Ortiz: If Ortiz makes at least 425 PA and passes a physical after the season, Boston’s $10MM team option on his services for 2016 will become guaranteed at $11MM (or more, depending on how many plate appearances Ortiz makes). Ortiz has only had less than 425 PA in two of the last 14 seasons, so barring any injury setbacks for Big Papi, this one seems like a safe bet to vest.

Joaquin Benoit: The Padres hold an $8MM team option on Benoit for 2016, but the righty can turn that into a guaranteed option if he finishes at least 55 games this season. Benoit’s chances are pretty remote, as he was relegated to setup man duties after San Diego acquired Craig Kimbrel.

Marlon Byrd: His original two-year, $16MM deal with the Phillies included an $8MM club option for 2016 that becomes guaranteed if he reaches 600 PA this season, or a total of 1100 PA over 2014-15 with at least 550 PA this season. Byrd received 637 PA last season and he has 74 PA over 20 games with the Reds in 2015. He should continue to get regular playing time for Cincinnati though Byrd is off to a slow start — a .441 OPS with no walks and 24 strikeouts.

Santiago Casilla: The Giants righty signed a three-year, $15MM deal in the 2012-13 offseason that contained a vesting option, though little is known about the option’s value or specifics.

Nori Aoki: The Giants’ $5.5MM club option on Aoki for 2016 will become a mutual option if Aoki reaches 550 PA. The outfielder is hitting well and his 102 PA currently leads the league, so he’s well ahead of the pace to vest his option.

Jonny Gomes: The Braves outfielder can guaranteed another year on his contract (at a $3MM salary) if he makes 325 PA, and he can unlock higher salaries at the 425 PA and 500 PA plateaus. Gomes has thus far received 47 PA over 15 games, putting him in decent shape for at least the first level of his vesting option.

We already know that Cliff Lee won’t achieve the innings totals required for his 2016 option to vest. The Phillies southpaw is attempting to recover from a torn left flexor tendon without undergoing surgery and is currently on the 60-day DL. Dodgers reliever Brandon League is also recovering from a right shoulder injury and thus stands virtually no chance of reaching the games-finished totals required to allow his 2016 player option to vest.